Claire Danes on Playing a Bipolar CIA Agent in ‘Homeland’

Claire Danes returns to TV in the new Showtime series “Homeland.” This time instead of angsty suburban teenager Angela Chase in “My So Called Life,” she plays a bipolar CIA agent.

When an American Marine sergeant is rescued in Afghanistan after eight years of captivity, he quickly becomes a hero and a symbol of the continuing fight in the war against Al Qaeda. But Ms. Danes’s Carrie Anderson has a sinking suspicion Sgt. Nicholas Brody has been turned and is now working for the terrorists. The drama premiers Oct. 2 and comes from “24” veterans Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa. “Homeland” isn’t as adrenaline charged as “24” but it does reflect the same post-Sept. 11 themes.

Ms. Danes took a break from shooting on location in North Carolina to talk about her career, the new series and how to wean herself off of talking like autism activist Temple Grandin.

Did you have those nutty stage parents willing to move to Hollywood to get their kid on TV?

They’re nutty. They’re just not stage parents. They were always really adamant that I have a life and have an education. I never felt exploited. I was the motor. I was agitating from the age of five to do this and they humored me and then it became impossible to ignore and then we all went to it. It was a serendipitous moment in that my brother was in college. My Dad’s business was coming to an end. My Mom was ready for a change herself so we were already at a threshold. But it [moving to L.A.] was all very disorienting and strange. We were all like ‘What? Huh? Okay. I guess this is our reality now.’

Did you have any idea “My So Called Life” would have the resonance it’s had? It’s still running in syndication on the Sundance Channel.

No, no idea. It wasn’t my first job but it was my first big job. It’s amazing the kind of influence that show has had. I’m grateful for it because we did something that really registered. I can’t believe it’s on TV again. It’s the longest afterlife and it is the thing people associate me with the most strongly still. But you know, it’s not “Saved by the Bell.” We were doing something that turned out to be really relevant and lasting but how could I have any clue? I had no idea what the Golden Globes were. But I knew a lot about being miserable and 14 and that’s all I needed to know. When we shot the pilot it was before I had even been in high school. I stopped going to school and started to live in a soundstage version of it.

Did you need some time off after playing Temple Grandin last year?

Yeah, I did need time and I got some time and then I had more time than I needed. I was eager to get back to it. It feels good to be at it again. Fear was a big, big motivator [in playing Ms. Grandin], fear and appreciation. She’s so idiosyncratic. She’s a culture of one so it was not just playing a person but playing a galaxy. I worked with a friend who’s a choreographer. We worked together trying to figure out how Autism would manifest physically. And then I worked with a dialogue coach and she really did assemble a Rosetta Stone of how Temple would speak. I still sometimes revert to Temple speak. For months after shooting, any impression I did would revert into Temple because I had such strong muscle memory. But now I don’t. I’ve played some people after that. I feel cleansed.

Executive producer Howard Gordon says your character on “Homeland” has to be complicated, since audiences inherently trust and like you. Did you discuss how to make sure she’s not too likable?

We didn’t have to further complicate her. She’s a mess. I don’t really spend much time thinking about seducing an audience or protecting her status as being appealing or likeable. I find the challenge is finding a way to play the truth of her being chemically unstable and also a really proficient, highly capable CIA agent. How can those two things coexist? I joke that she responds really well to the meds but I have to believe that’s true. We’re still deciding where she’s at on that spectrum. There is a spectrum and she probably has a more modest condition. They’re related in some ways [the job and the disease]. They both involve paranoia and when somebody’s mind is susceptible to that, they’re constantly questioning themselves and the world around them and that translates pretty easily into her work. I really like her and I like the story because she’s the ultimate unreliable narrator and so is he and it’s unclear who the protagonist is and who the antagonist is. Although [whispers], I am right. [After the finale of “The Killing”] people ask if they’re going to get a satisfying ending and it’s like that’s such a bore.

Have you been watching this season of “The Big C” with your husband [Hugh Dancy] co-starring this season?

I have. I’ve been watching it because I haven’t seen much of Hugh. We went to a wedding near where Laura Linney lives and we were staying at her house. A week later, I was suddenly back on my own in Charlotte feeling lonely and bereft. I’d keep watching Showtime to see Hugh but then there were promos for “Homeland” and all the sudden fantasy and reality completely overlapped. Like when I was a little kid watching “Sesame Street” and I thought it was a real place and it was crushing to learn it wasn’t, worse than finding out Santa Clause didn’t exist. That’s how it felt: Maybe Showtime is a real place. Of course, in “Big C” Hugh has cancer and is gay.

After the Arab Spring and what happened to some foreign journalists like CBS anchor Lara Logan during the Egypt uprisings, it’s striking to see your blonde character on her own going around Baghdad.

There’s a woman Carrie is loosely modeled on and she’s a CIA officer and so I met with her and she took me to Langley and introduced me to some of her colleagues. I met in the hallway the man who was the head of the Pakistani division and had just returned to the U.S. [after the killing of Osama bin Laden] and it was like ‘Wow this really exists.’ They were surprisingly forthcoming. I asked about the role gender plays and their sex is a relevant aspect. It can be an asset and used to their advantage but it can also be problematic and then they have to be creative about how to resolve that. It’s a real issue in Arab cultures where men don’t have relationships with women like we do here. There’s no casual relationship so they either have to find a way to manipulate the dynamic so the man is assuming a paternal or avuncular role or are professional colleagues. I don’t know if they’ve [female agents] ever felt physical danger. It didn’t come up, though I’d imagine the answer would be yes.

There are so many books about our post Sept. 11 world. What have you been reading to prepare for this role?

I’ve been reading a lot about the CIA and how it came into being and just the culture of it and the politics within the CIA and also its relationship to the FBI which is a little tricky. But I haven’t spent much time reading about 9/11 specifically. I’ve also been reading about bipolar disorder which is really interesting. I have this book club and we don’t read one book, we offer up a few suggestions and create a library over time. The few meetings I’ve been able to attend are ‘Here’s another book about the CIA. Here’s another book about bipolar disorder.’ I’m creating a very unique niche. I’m reading now “The Company We keep” and there’s a book called “Kidnapping in Milan” that is really great. I kind of think the show is a coming of age story for the country and our innocence was lost after Sept. 11. We’re starting to accept that we’re not as naïve as we would like to be and so much of our character is about optimism and openness and that was hugely challenged. Of course, the human loss was profound and horrendous but in addition to that, our sense of self was really challenged and it’s under serious examination right now and it’s not a fun process. Your 2005 movie “Shopgirl” drew such mixed reactions. Some people saw it as a whimsical love story and others saw your character as the creepy middle aged man’s ideal younger girlfriend.

I find it deeply romantic. I think Steve [Martin] is deeply romantic and that was a surprise for many people. He’s a tender, sensitive person who can slip on a banana peel like nobody’s business. That was a fascinating character and story and world to inhabit for a little while. Just to be in his company was pretty astonishing, never mind making out with him but I highly recommend it. I mean, if anybody has a chance, say yes. I get what people are saying but they both benefited from the relationship. He wasn’t just exploiting her. She was exploiting him in some ways. Yes, age was a factor. He was attracted to her youth and she was attracted to his maturity and that’s fair enough. They both came away from the relationship more whole and improved so they both won. So it wasn’t creepy.

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